Flow and NLP

If anything, the concept of Flow is related to personal development for athletes as much as anyone who wants to create peak performance in their lives. I want to introduce how you can get into flow much faster using a strategy in NLP and hypnosis called time distortion.

When you have many things happening in your mind, and you’re focus is sporadic, time seems to fly by. an hour is wasted and you really get 10 minutes worth of work done.

Conversely, when you get really still, time seems to stay still. Give it a go – sit for a minute and just focus on your heart beat and breathing.

The state you went into is also a mindful state. If you want to get better performance out of yourself, you need to be mindful from moment to moment. This is the reason why writing articles requires a Flow state. I can spend an hour churning out 20 pages of an ebook, only if I get myself centered through breathing. Mindfulness is useful when you realize you are out of balance, anxious or fearful. Stop, and get centered into the here and now.

Next, this state should be carried out WHILE you perform a task. Sounds counterintuitive, I know. How can I be calm when the clock is ticking and I have 2 hours to submit a proposal? The answer is clear – if you truly need to get something done, setting a deadline is supposed to help you focus. If it causes you to get anxious, you’ve conditioned yourself the wrong way. Think of a time you were motivated to achieve something and did it. It could be as simple as being motivated to finish your taxes (even if you didn’t like it). You finished it in time. Take that same feeling of motivation and apply it to what you need to do, only this time, associate the completion of it with sheer, absolute enthrallment and joy.

Conditioned associations can be made through effective visualization. You can do this for yourself quite easily, but what if you could do this with someone else? If you are one who is interested to learn how to help others achieve their peak potential, I suggest you learn a little from my Inner Transformation series. Just simply register at my home page, and you will get access for free for lifelong personal development!

About Stuart Tan

Stuart Tan, MSc, MBA, SDCG, BA (Hons), is a Licensed NLP Trainer since 1997, and is Singapore's first Licensed NLP Coach Trainer, a trained counselor and trauma and depression therapist since 1999, a Master Motivational Coach with the Institute of Motivational Coaching and a leadership, team performance and change management consultant. He certifies NLP Practitioners and NLP Master Practitioners, NLP Business Practitioners and NLP Business Master Practitioners and Certified Motivational Coaches (CMC) as well as Licensed NLP Coaches.
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